A fun part of my job as English department head is to read books to keep up with what the kids are into. Because of this I have read one Twilight book (never need to go back there again!) and the Harry Potter books. The current middle school craze is Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a five part series about a 12 year old who is dyslexic and has ADHD. He's expelled from school 6 times in six years and can't understand why he can't just be a normal kid. So already I am intrigued that the main character is not a typical hero with a perfect life.
The middle school English teacher told me I had to read the first book, The Ligthening Thief, over break to understand why they can't keep the books on the shelf in the middle school library. The boys especially are lining up to read them, which is a miracle in itself in this modern age of boys who read less and less.
The premise behind the story is that Percy is half Greek god and half mortal, a demigod. In Greek mythology there are countless stories of this happening. But try getting middle school boys to read Greek mythology! Their response will be "why do I need to know this?" I am halfway through the book and I've already learned more Greek mythology than I did in my world lit class in college! And what's more, I've heard the boys talking about Percy Jackson and they can toss around names like Zeus, Demeter, Ares, etc without missing a beat. They can tell the names and specific realms of Greek gods and goddesses, and they know their symbols. To top it all off, the middle school English teacher heard a group of boys say "The book is way better than the movie." That is a huge score for middle school reading!
So if you know a reluctant reader in middle school, maybe Percy Jackson will work for them! I give it two thumbs up because it teaches a fact based needed for higher level literature in a way that the kids don't resist. The author is now working on an Egyptian series which we will check out next as a possible addition to the middle school library.
